Lost
by the ticking clock
Summary: Because no matter what Loki's done, no matter what's he's become, he will always be Thor's brother.


**My first Avengers fanfiction. I just saw the movie and was intrigued by the relationship between Thor and Loki. My sister, who is very interested in Norse mythology, filled me in on Loki's back story, and I was even more interested in writing this little fanfic. please, PLEASE let me know what you think!**

When he first sees his brother, he's not sure whether he wants to hold him tight and never let him go, or if he wants to hold him tight and snap his neck.

Loki meets his eyes for a fraction of a second, and then suddenly they are fighting. Shouting and kicking and smashing each other, like they did when they were young. When they would fight and wrestle and laugh together. Except this time there's no laughter. There's only fury. A fury that pounds through Thor like the thunder he commands, that rings in his ears like the clanging beat of a drum, a fury that threatens to make him kill.

He's not sure why he's so angry. Maybe it's because Loki is supposed to be dead, and now he's here. Alive. Angry. Full of vengeance. Maybe it's because this monster isn't the brother he remembers. The brother he loves.

He wraps his hands around his brother's neck and shakes him, hard. "I thought you dead!" He snarls, and his eyes are burning. Is he going to cry? He hasn't cried in a long time. A very long time. But Loki might be pushing those emotions again, and as much as he hates it, Thor can't keep the strain from his voice.

Loki pounces on his display of vulnerability and gives him a sly, mocking smile. "Did you mourn?"

"We all did!" Now he is shouting, and he is angry again, the fury roaring like thunder in his ears. He remembers the nights he spent staring off into darkness of night, the times when he would dream and wake to the sound of his brother's fading laughter, how his father had isolated himself away. He swallows hard. "Our father..."

"Your father!" Loki's words are sharp, as bitter as sour water. "He did tell you of my true parentage, did he not?"

The words are a blow, and the thunder pounds in his body with even more intensity. When he speaks, his voice is as furious as his brothers. "We were raised together. We played together. We fought together. Do you remember none of that!" Behind his eyes he sees the mischievous, carefree boy who he would pick up and toss in the air, who would somehow, always have his back. Who's smile could make even the worst of moods vanish. Who's tricks and pranks made him laugh no matter what mood he was in. His baby brother. Not this sly, calculating, hate-filled monster.

Loki's eyes are shards of glass, gleaming with fury, slicing like daggers as he took a few steps forward, voice shaking with emotion. "I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who should have been king!" His voice has risen to a strangled shout by the end.

Thor stares at him. He can hear his heart hammering in his chest, his breaths escalating to a near pant as the thunder and anger pound inside him. His hammer vibrates against his fingertips. "So you take the world I love as a recompense for you imagined slights? No, the earth is under my protection, Loki."He makes his voice as firm as he possibly can, but he is out of breath, and still in shock that this creature, this angry, hateful monster could be his sweet, mischievous little brother, and his words aren't as sharp he intends them to be.

Loki laughs, and not the laugh Thor remembers. This laugh is harsh and scornful, and it's almost painful to hear. "And you're doing a marvelous jo with that." He spreads his hands. "The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. That's why I should.."

Can't he see that there is so much more than that? that those humans, tiny and pathetic though they may be, burn with an energy and a power that they, the demigods, the gods, will never possess? Twisted though he is, how can Loki not _see? _"You think yourself above them," Thor says, softly.

Loki rolls his eyes and throws his hands up, for half a second acting like his old self. "Well, yes." He says, his tone implying that this should be obvious.

Thor shakes his head, and this time his eyes don't burn from the sadness. The emotion is an ache, that makes his next words soft, pained. "Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."

He turns away, but Loki's voice cuts through his motions, the sharp tone halting him. "I've seen world you've never known about. I have grown, Odin's son," The tile is a snarled curse, "In my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract. And when I wield it..."

Thor spins around and grabs his brother's arms. Whatever Loki was planning, he can sense that it is not only dangerous for earth, for his people, but for his brother. And despite everything, despite what Loki deserves, despite the fact that he knows his brother would kill him if given the chance, he doesn't want to see his little brother holding something that powerful. "Who showed you this power?" He asks, and this time his voice is sharp, commanding. "Who controls this would be king?"

"I am king!" In his brother's tone there is an echo of the real Loki, of the lost Loki, the whining, annoying little brother that had always been able to make him laugh.

That brings out more anger in him. And he shakes his brother, even harder. "Not here1 You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" His voice breaks, and he curls his fingers into his brother's collar, more gently now. "You come _home." _He is unable to keep the longing out of his voice.

Loki stares at him. His eyes are not as piercing now, but his lips are twisting up into the characteristically cruel smile. At the edges, though, Thor can see that lopsided grin that he has always associated with his brother. That gleam of mischief in his eye.

Because no matter what Loki's done, no matter what's he's _become _he will always be Thor's brother.

And the god of thunder wishes more than anything, that his brother will realize that.


End file.
